


How to Un-Suck Your Holidays 2020

by kitausuret



Category: Marvel 616, Spider-Man (Comicverse), Venom (Comics)
Genre: COVID-19, Christmas Fluff, Communication, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Found Family, Holidays, Holidays in Quarantine, Idiots in Love, M/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:36:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28280265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitausuret/pseuds/kitausuret
Summary: It's the first holiday season Eddie, Flash, and the Venom Symbiote are together, and of course it had to happen in 2020. But Flash loves the holidays more than anything. Is there any salvaging Christmas in the middle of a pandemic, with no holiday parties, no get-togethers, not even their usual volunteering this time of year?With a little help from some friends and acquaintances, Eddie and the symbiote are determined to make at leastoneday of 2020 worth remembering. Even if that one day is just December 25th.
Relationships: Eddie Brock | Venom/Flash Thompson, Eddie Brock/Venom Symbiote
Comments: 13
Kudos: 16
Collections: Venom-X-Change-2020





	How to Un-Suck Your Holidays 2020

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bakageta](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bakageta/gifts).



> Happy Holidays to everyone! Stay safe and healthy this year! ♥

“I guess we’ll just have to accept that this Christmas is going to be a little different than past years.”

Eddie looked up at Flash, who had barely gotten halfway through his slice. He held it up in one hand, looking for all the world like it had personally ruined the aforementioned holiday (and maybe a few others, too). The symbiote, meanwhile, was busy devouring a third slice, though it too stopped in response to Flash’s melancholy statement. It exchanged a look with Eddie before crunching up the rest of its slice in one bite. 

Eddie’s instinct was to remind Flash that Christmas had at least as much to do with commercialism as it did… well, just about anything else, but a silent warning from their other stopped him. Instead, he set his pizza down on the coffee table and turned to face Flash. “What do you mean?”

“It’s just-” He shook his head and set his own plate aside with a sigh. “We go through so much shit all the time, every year, but usually there’s at least this time of year to look forward to. Getting together with friends, volunteering around town, and don’t _tell_ me you didn’t at least somewhat enjoy May Parker’s holiday party last year.” Flash flopped his head back against the back of the couch and put a hand over his eyes. “I know, it’s for the best, but it still sucks.” 

“I know. It does.”

Flash peeked through his fingers with a wry smile. “That’s it? No lecture about capitalism or..?”

“Nope.” Eddie scooted closer and put his arm around his boyfriend’s shoulders. “2020 sucks. I’m not going to argue with you on that. But you know what doesn’t suck?” 

Flash looked around their apartment living room as if the answer would come to him. “Hmm… you. Venom. This pizza.” 

“That’s right. So you better eat up because _someone_ is already on his fourth slice.”

Flash laughed and retrieved his piece from the box before settling against Eddie again. Eddie looked up at the ceiling, thinking as the symbiote helpfully dangled another slice in front of him. He’d make this an acceptable Christmas. No, he’d make this a _great_ Christmas. 

He just needed a plan.

And some assistance. 

\------

As he worked on an article, he decided to make his first call, to one Andrea Benton. While she sadly couldn’t come up to New York for even a brief visit at this time, she had always been weirdly intuitive when it came to Flash. 

“How have your holidays been so far?”

“Mm, fine, I guess. Aunt Sarah got sick over Hanukkah so that kind of… tells you how that all went.” Andi sighed into the receiver. “She’s okay, pretty mild case, and of course I - well, _we_ \- haven’t had any issues.” He could hear her playing something in the background, probably Mario or something. 

_“Not every video game in existence is ‘Mario’.”_

_Shush, you._

“What about you and Coach?”

“Oh, we’re… fine.”

“Then why are you calling me a week before Christmas?”

Eddie cursed internally. “To say ‘hello’.”

“Well,” she said rather matter-of-factly, “Flash only talked about those turtle brownies - you’re welcome, by the way, for that hint - for like a week last year. So if you made those again, I’m sure he’d appreciate that.” 

“The brownies? Again?” 

“Eddie, trust me on this.”

He frowned, skeptical, until the symbiote poked out of his shoulder and shook its head at him. _“She cares about Flash. Wouldn’t lead you wrong.”_

“Okay, I’m trusting you. You and Mania have a good rest of your holidays, okay?”

“You too, Eddie. Give Venom lots of chocolate!”

\-----

The next day, with a symbiotic mask firmly in place and as many feet as he could keep between himself and other shoppers, he made his next call. She’d told him to give her a call any time, so a couple times a year, he obliged, just to say hello. He had the crushed walnuts and the brown sugar for the carmel… just needed a few more ingredients for the brownies. The other line rang, and finally picked up-

“May Parker’s residence, if you’re calling about Hanukkah you’re late.”

The symbiote actually _hissed_ in his mind. “Parker? _Peter_ Parker?”

“What the…” Peter lowered his voice on the other line to an equally venomous hiss. “ _Eddie Brock?!_ Why are you calling this number? Why do you have Aunt May’s number? Again, why are you calling? Where are you, I’m going to-”

“I’m _calling_ for a _recipe_. Why are you answering her phone?” 

“Because I’m her nephew, and because if I’m dropping off groceries, I’m going to make sure strange numbers aren’t scammers or, I don’t know, _Venom_.”

“You let Flash call her.”

“Well, Flash isn’t Venom right now, is he? Besides, I know you set that up last year, I know you told Mary Jane to get me those boxers with Agent Venom faces on them on the last day of Hanukkah, and she told me not to ‘make a scene’ at the holiday party.”

He stopped in the middle of the baking aisle and stared up at the ceiling in disbelief. “Parker, I have no idea what you’re going on about.”

“It doesn’t matter! You’re not speaking to Aunt May.”

In the background, he heard her familiar voice. “Peter, honey, did you answer my phone again? Who is it?"

Eddie could practically see Peter wrestling with his conscience. “It’s… Eddie Brock.”

“Oh! Wonderful!” A slight shuffling, and May came on the phone. “Edward, hello! Happy Holidays! How are you? Staying safe, I hope?”

“Of course, and thank you, same to you. I admit, it feels a bit strange with FEAST down to only a minimal staff this season, all of us not down there volunteering.”

“I couldn’t agree more. But I understand why.” Her voice brightened a tad. “Even so, it is nice to hear your voice. I suspect there’s something you needed, however?” 

Eddie scratched the back of his neck and winced. Was he really so transparent, even over the telephone? “Ah, yes. Actually, I had a favor to ask. Christmas is coming soon, as you know, and Flash is a little… down this year. I wanted to do something nice, and I was wondering if you knew your wheatcakes recipe off-hand?”

“Oh, Eddie, you sweet man. Eugene is so lucky to have you. I know it by heart. Have a pen handy?”

“Always.” He dug a small notepad and a pen from his back pocket. “You are a lifesaver, Mrs. Parker. All right, whenever you have it…”

\-----

Three days before Christmas, Eddie stood in the shower, letting the water run over his skin, stretching out his aching muscles. His other slipped over his body in thin strands, sending a slight shiver wherever they touched. It had been an exhausting day. Their usual nighttime prowl over a couple areas they kept an eye on had taken an unfortunate turn with some arsonist jackass deciding it was a great night to take their anger out on a Queens clinic. An unexpected assist from Spider-Man (the one who _didn’t_ yell at them for calling old acquaintances) had kept them from taking too much of a beating, but it wasn’t their usual nightly extra-curricular. 

Who attacked a hospital in the middle of a pandemic, though? They hadn’t had an opportunity to ask. Spider-Man had convinced them to leave before the police got there, which was probably for the best. Said arsonist probably wouldn’t have made it to jail alive if Venom had stuck around much longer.

Flash went to bed shortly after they crawled in through the bedroom window. He’d been busy with his work with the local veteran’s crisis line, his own line now being run out of their spare bedroom. In addition to his usual work he did day to day for Veteran’s Affairs, this year he had picked up the voluntary position as well a few times a week. It was good to keep busy, though. Eddie knew how that went. 

_“Push yourself too hard, sometimes. Both of you do.”_

“Do I?” he asked aloud. “I know my limits.” 

A tendril poked into a bruise on his shoulder and he grimaced. _“You routinely ignore them.”_ It retrieved a shampoo bottle and deposited some onto the crown of his head. _“Flash is not the only one feeling… ‘off’, this season.”_

“What?” Eddie snorted. _I don’t know what you’re going on about. I’m doing fine. I wasn’t exactly a… a_ social butterfly _before. I’m a writer, and it’s difficult to get into a respectable publication these days._ He scrubbed the shampoo into his scalp with a bit of unnecessary vigor. “It’s Flash I’m worried about.” When he opened his eyes, the symbiote’s face hung directly in front of his. 

_“The whole world is in a crisis, Eddie. It’s okay to not be okay.”_

“You sound like Flash.”

_“He_ is _a part of me, the same as you are. But there are things I know you will not tell him.”_

Eddie hummed under his breath and grabbed the soap. “It’s not fair to burden him with my issues, though. He’s… been through a lot.”

_“As have you, and as have I, which is why it is important to_ _help each other, and also to_ accept _help.”_

“I suppose you’re right, then, love.” He held up the soap bar with a smile. “Speaking of asking for assistance, if you wouldn't mind getting my back..?”

_“Gladly,”_ it responded, and took the bar. The symbiote lathered up between his shoulderblades, working lower to the small of his back, and then-

“Hey!”

A hand of tentacles squeezed his rear. _“My favorite part to ‘assist’ with.”_

He laughed despite himself and kissed a lump of the dark flesh. “Perhaps tomorrow. Tonight, we could both use rest.” 

Its expression did not change, but still, Eddie got the sense that his other grew a little more contemplative in that moment. Though it rarely did so, it spoke aloud then, its voice reverberating softly in the small shower. “Do you know something, Eddie?”

“Hm?”

“I love you.”

“I do, and I love you, too,” he said with a smile. “But I don’t mind you telling me, anyways.”

\-----

Christmas morning, Flash woke with the sun on his face and the smell of… pancakes? Instinctively, he reached for the spot next to him, but found neither Eddie nor the symbiote there. Not terribly surprising, as sometimes his boyfriend liked to get a few reps in early (Flash was more of an evening-workout type), but what was going on? Last they spoke, aside from a couple Zoom calls and _Die Hard_ , they weren’t going to do anything today. 

Once he was out of bed, dressed, and in his wheelchair, he went to the kitchen. Sure enough, a number of mixing bowls littered the counter, and freshly-made pancakes lay stacked up on a plate. A pair of symbiotic hands squeezed caramel out of a pastry bag and into a dimple in each of about a dozen brownies. Some cover of a Christmas song by Sinatra played over the sole remaining CD player in their apartment. On the TV, Eddie (or the symbiote, more likely) had managed to find one of those “Yule Log” programs on broadcast. 

Flash opened his mouth but no words came out. He managed only to laugh, and finally Eddie turned around. He offered a smile that seemed a little unsure. 

“Ah, good morning.” He glanced about, as if only now realizing how festive the apartment seemed. “Merry… Christmas? If it’s too much, I can…” 

“Eddie, did…” He noticed the coffeepot was also full. _Bless that man._ “Did you do this all for _me?_ ” He rolled a couple paces closer. 

“...yes?”

“Get over here, both of you,” Flash said, and as soon as Eddie had obliged, grabbed the other man by the front of his sweater and dragged him down to kiss him hard. He tasted like brownie batter and Earl Grey tea, and Flash could guess who was more to blame for each of those. He smiled so wide it ruined the kiss, not that he could barely bring himself to care. He still couldn’t believe that Eddie, who had never exactly been quiet about his dislike of various holidays, had gone to all this trouble, this year of all years..!

Eddie pulled away. “I couldn’t have done it alone.” He retrieved a plate and flopped a few pancakes onto it before setting it before Flash on the table. “I called a few acquaintances. I just knew this had been a rough year, and I know how much you like Christmas.” 

“ _We_ know,” the symbiote spoke up finally as it poured Flash a cup of coffee. “Because we love you.” 

“I- shit, guys, I don’t know what to… Holy shit.” After a bite, he pointed his fork at the stack in front of him. “Is this what I think it is? Did you have to sacrifice your soul for-”

“-May Parker’s wheatcakes recipe?” This time, Eddie grinned in something like triumph. “No, but we did have to endure about sixty seconds of conversation with her nephew, in which he yelled at me about something that happened last year.”

“Oh, no. Pete didn’t answer her phone, did he? Sometimes he does that when he’s helping her with something.”

“Yes, yes he did.”

“We made great sacrifices for you, Flash,” the symbiote added. 

“I swear,” he said around a mouthful of food, “I am going to kiss you for an hour straight… as soon as I finish shoveling more of these into my face.” 

Eddie laughed and kissed his cheek, and the symbiote licked the other side. A wonderful Christmas morning, so far. 

\-----

That night, their agreed-upon Christmas movie was, of course, _Die Hard_ . Flash had helped roast a chicken and some potatoes, and while there hadn’t been a holiday party, there had been about fifteen to twenty people crammed onto one Zoom call. It certainly was a different kind of Christmas, but with the apartment adorned with twinkling lights, a plate of turtle brownies on the coffee table, and Bruce Willis walking on broken glass with bare feet, it still _felt_ like Christmas. All thanks to the two he loved more than anything else in this world. 

“Eddie… V… I don’t know how to thank you for today,” he said finally. Something prickled at the corner of his eye, and he quickly wiped it away. “This whole past month, really the last couple weeks, it was you two I was worried about.”

Eddie lifted his eyebrows. “What? Us?”

“Well, yeah! It’s just, this is our first holiday season, you know, _all together_ , and I wanted it to be perfect. But 2020 happened, and I figured everything was ruined, so I just kind of… gave up. But you two never gave up. You still found a way to make this year amazing. I just, I don’t know what to say.” 

He touched Eddie’s cheek, just a little rough with the day’s stubble, overwhelmed by the moment and not knowing what to say. Eddie took his hand in turn, and the symbiote wrapped it up, practically dwarfing Flash’s hand in their claw. It smoothed over most of his face next, but Venom’s white eyespots seemed almost gentle as they gazed back at Flash. 

**“You don’t have to say anything. Just say you love us.”**

“I do,” he said, and kissed them, smiling through his tears. “I love you so much, both of you.”

**“And we love you, Flash. Merry Christmas.”**


End file.
